Re: Georgia/Florida trip

Whirlabout@aol.com
Fri, 26 Apr 1996 19:18:47 -0400

In a message dated 96-04-24 14:51:53 EDT, you write:
<snip snip>
> One of the highlights of the trip was going into the Okefenokee
>Swamp. We went in through the entrance on the S.E side near Folkstone.
>In there I saw what I had expected to see in all of the other sites but
>hadn't. Lots of floating sphagnum with channels cut in them by the
>alligators. On some of these islets were the giant forms of S. minor and
>S. psittacina. I saw one S. psittacina that was at least as wide across
>as a garbage can lid. Some of the S. minor were topping three feet.

Could you tell us more about the S. psittacina? I'm guessing a 'garbage can
lid' to be approx. 2 ft. (more?). This would make the one pitcher over a foot
long. Is that a correct assumption? How large were the actual pitcher heads?
I've heard the stories of psittacina this large but never really believed
them. I've traded for some S. psit. 'giant' that never got giant sized so I
figured the giant's were bogus. Plus I've never heard anybody actually
growing any that large. The S. minor I've seen/grown etc. so that's pretty
easy to believe (although mine never made 3 ft...). Also, they were around
the 'S.E side near Folkstone'? I've been there several times, I can't
believe my eyes failed me that badly...

Thanks for the trip update. I haven't been south for over 10 yrs and judging
from a lot of the posts last year, it seemed that there just weren't many
bogs left. It's good to know that, although we're losing ground, we haven't
lost them all yet... It's also good to know there are some red S. flava's
still out there. I never actually got to see them in the wild. I had heard
that they were more of a 'Green Swamp' area plant. Your descriptions of the
fields of S. leuco really bring back some memories. I think I'll dig out my
slides of the huge stands of flava, alata, and leuco...

Ron Lane
whirlabout@aol.com